2008 Volume 61 Issue 7 Pages 525-529
Anorexia, retarded growth, depression, leg weakness and blindness were observed in 13 day-old chicks of one layer flock. The mortality rate was 10%.Histopathologically, vacuolar changes were observed in the parenchyma of the optic lobe, medulla oblongata, spinal cord and retina. Ultrastructurally, vacuoles were found within and beneath the myelin sheath, made by the dissociation of myelin lamella. The same clinical signs and histopathological changes were reproduced in the chickens by feeding them the diet used in the flock. The diet contained lasalosid in addition to the premixed salinomycin. These clinical signs and pathological lesions suggest ionophore toxicosis as the cause of the disease.
